The Tiger and the Cobra
by draconicflyer
Summary: Tony Stark wasn't alone through his awful childhood. He had his daemon Kasimira, his sister Lena, and her daemon Athanasius. Together the four of them could handle anything. Even living with the Avengers.


In 1942 Captain America and his daemon were lost in a plane crash. A year later he was legally declared dead and the army stopped all search efforts. That same year Howard Stark began to contemplate his own mortality. He decided that he had too much to offer the world for his time on it to ever end and he began looking for a way to defy death. The most obvious method was to recreate the super soldier serum. There was no proof that the serum prevented aging but it was likely and even if it couldn't it would be a good start.

With that in mind Howard made sure to collect all of Dr. Erskine's notes and set up a private organization to continue the search for Captain Rodgers. Howard himself searches for a time before leaving it to others in order to begin his own efforts to recreate the serum.

By 1969 Howard and his daemon Jehannaz had made great strides in recreating Erskine's formula and completed several successful animal trials. He was ready to begin human testing but was having difficulty deciding on a test subject. He didn't want some nobody to be given the same powers as Captain America or end up creating another Red Skull. Then Maria announced she was pregnant and Howard had his solution. He was also curious to see how the serum might affect a fetus during development so he asked his wife to participate in one of his experiments. Maria was happy to do so after a brief assurance that it wouldn't harm the baby. Anthony Edward Stark was born in March of 1970.

The experiment was an even greater success than Howard had anticipated. Anthony was a remarkable subject. He was both like and unlike Captain America. He was stronger than average but exhibits no outward excess of muscle tissue. Instead his cells seemed to be more efficient. In addition to enhanced strength there were subtle differences in his skeletal structure and joints making him more flexible, he even had an additional vertebra in his spine. His mental abilities were also far above those of his age group. He began speaking after 6 months and quickly moved on to problem solving. His healing capacity was also exceptional, cuts and bruises heal approximately 5 times faster than an average human.

In 1972 Howard looks for another subject. As remarkable as this experiment had been Howard can't depend on a single test subject. This time Howard wants more control and feedback during fetal development so he found a woman who recently fell on hard times and got her to agree to the experiment in exchange for an obscene amount of money. She quickly became pregnant and Howard was able to learn even more from this subject by monitoring the fetus's growth. He was pleased when the fetus developed into a female, broader test group, and in short order the girl was born. The woman took her leave and Howard delivered the girl into Jarvis's care for when he didn't need her for experiments. Howard knew that nothing Jarvis said against him would be taken seriously. Howard and the weapons he designs were too valuable. Jarvis accepted his new charge and named her Lena.

In 1983 Howard contemplated the next phase of testing. Tony and Lena were 13 and 10 respectively. The only outward sign of the serum was the additional vertebra and the slight difference in the way they move. Their movements were more fluid and balanced than anyone Howard had observed. The only time he had seen them stumble was after particularly intensive testing. A truly observant person could note the complete lack of scaring. Nothing Howard has done has left permanent injury. Injuries that would never heal fully in a regular person, nerve damage and loss of fingers, healed swiftly and left no sign of the injury ever occurring. Most promising of all sample cells forced into rapid growth showed no sign of failure due to age. The only flaw in the testing had been from the subjects themselves. Both Tony and Lena had at various points objected to testing. Howard found threatening their daemons to be the optimal way to ensure cooperation. No further objections had been made. Kasimira and Athanasius, their daemons, showed increased mental aptitude in correlation to Tony and Lena but exhibit no enhanced physical capabilities. As with Captain America and his Adelaide the serum appeared to causes the bond to be stretched.

Howard was ready to begin testing adults but returned to his initial challenge of how to decide upon a test subject. Eventually Howard decided to combine testing on adults with testing the limits of the serum's healing capabilities. He had deliberately avoided many test that he suspected would cause death regardless of the serum not wanting to risk his only two test subjects. But if he selected test subjects that wouldn't be missed then he could run those tests and eliminate the worry about what to do with the subjects after testing. Howard briefly considered terminating Tony and Lena now that he had all the data he required but decided against it. Tony was a known figure and if he disappeared there would be questions. No one apart from Tony and Jarvis knew about Lena but Tony was remarkably attached to the girl and would likely raise a fuss if she was destroyed. Besides Howard might think of new tests and acquiring another fetal injected subject would be tedious.

Over the next five years Howard selected and acquired 20 test subjects in varying states of health and age. His results were phenomenal. Four subjects died shortly after injection before Howard determined the necessary dosage. Apparently fetuses were able to absorb more of the serum then fully formed adults, Howard considered running tests on children but the serum was meant for him and he was far from a child. After that all subjects showed marked improvement in health and an increase in physical and mental abilities. The elderly subjects de-aged at a steady rate until they reached an apparent age of mid-twenties. Howard kept the daemons of all the test subjects in a series of cages to maintain control over the subjects. All subjects developed a stretched bond after injection.

Tony attended MIT during these years while Lena remained at the Stark Mansion where Howard conducted his test. Howard had designed no further test for them but Tony would be a valuable asset in the Stark Industries research and development department and Lena had become a valuable lab assistant. She was adept at setting up and conducting tests which allowed Howard to observe more closely, Howard also had her clean up the lab and dispose of the subjects after testing.

In 1987 Tony graduated from MIT with honors and returned home, Lena was overjoyed to see him. Howard was satisfied with the results of his trials and was ready to inject himself. He instructed Lena to set up the lab for the procedure to be conducted the next day. Howard and his wife needed to make an appearance at a Gala that evening.

The next day the headlines told of the tragic deaths of Howard and Maria Stark. Reports indicated there was a slight defect with the brake system but no evidence of foul play.

Tony attended the funeral with his daemon Kasimira who had settled as a Maltese Tiger when Tony was 14. They stand next to Obadiah Stane, his new legal guardian and the CEO of Stark Industries until Tony's twenty first birthday. Edwin Jarvis brought home and eventually adopted an orphan girl and her black snake daemon now registered as Lena Jarvis and Athanasius.


End file.
